Corporate Core Values, Compared

Why Corporate Values?

These are declarations about how a company treats itself, customers, and stakeholders. 

For the majority of companies, these declarations reduce to the essential purpose of any company; namely, to make a profit by offering a product that customers buy, and to do so in as time- and cost-efficient a manner as possible.

Those companies tend to aim for 5 (plus or minus) core values, but it's often difficult for them to stop themselves from adding "just one more". It should be no surprise that their lists tend to be similar.  In fact, I suggest that these "Generic Core Values" boil down into four categories, and that most companies simply combine or repackage them in various ways.  My four hypothetical categories are:

A. Achievement or creating value.  Includes business goals and shareholder value.

B. Customer focus.   Includes integrity and community engagement.

C. Working together.

D. Continuous Improvement. Includes innovation.

I've worked for very good companies which have these kinds of corporate values.  Their core values do not inspire me, but that's above my pay grade.

On the other hand, some companies break the mold and actually embed a unique corporate culture into their core values (Google).  Those are interesting to me, but I still don't know if that makes the companies better than others, or if they just have a better marketing department or something.

Northern Telecom / BNR, ca 1996.

1. Our people are our strength.
2. Create customer value. ("create superior value for our customers").
3. Promote shareholder value ("we work to provide s.v.").
4. We are one team.  We share one vision.
5. Continuous improvement ("Embrace change and reward innovation").

CA Technologies, ca 2016.

1. SELF-AWARE.  "We look in the mirror. We know our strengths, but also see our weaknesses—and constantly work on both."

2. RESILIENT. "We go all in and hold nothing back. In the face of adversity, we show no fear, only the grit to persevere."

3. AUTHENTIC. "We shoot straight. Our customers trust us with their most critical needs because we are always open and transparent."

4. RESULTS-ORIENTED. "We love the game. Digital transformation is crucial to the success of our customers, and we do what matters to ensure they win. "

5. CUSTOMER-CENTRIC. "We do it for them. When our customers win, we win. We put their needs first and pride ourselves on our ability to surprise and delight. "

6. COLLABORATIVE. "We never go it alone. We are one CA, one team that succeeds together by making the most of our collaborative expertise."

7. CREATIVE. "We never stop chasing greatness. We constantly pursue elegant solutions to our customers’ most complex problems and support their desire to achieve breathtaking results."

8. SOCIALLY AWARE. "We respect each other and our communities. We support the people and causes that make a difference."

9. AGILE. "We are agile. Because agility is everything today, we move with a sense of urgency and adapt quickly in anticipation of change. "

10. UNCOMPROMISING INTEGRITY. "We do the right thing. Always. That means honoring our commitments and principles in everything we do."

Brink's, ca 2020.

1. Safety

Our goal: bring every employee home safe every night.

We take pride in keeping our customers’ valuables safe and secure.

2. Customer Focus

We understand and anticipate our customers’ needs and provide creative solutions to help them succeed.

We consider the customer first in all we do and build systems and processes to improve service.

3. Integrity

We act with honor and integrity.

We respect each other, our company, our customers and others who are affected by Brink's.

4. Engagement

We create an environment where employees feel comfortable participating.

We are committed to driving results and winning in the market.

We engage in constructive conflict and value diverse perspectives.

5. Continuous improvement

We find ways to streamline our processes and improve our performance.

USAA, ca 2021.

1. Keep our membership and mission first*
2. Live our core values (Service, Loyalty, Integrity, and Honesty).
3. Be compliant and manage risk.
4. Build trust and help each other succeed.
5. Embrace diversity and be purposefully inclusive.
6. Innovate and build for the future.

* "USAA's mission is to facilitate the financial security of its members, associates and their families by providing a full range of highly competitive financial products and services. In so doing, we seek to be the provider of choice for the military community."

The Big List

Stolen from several sites, and filed under my uber-values list.

Achievement

1. Boldness
2. Leadership
3. Persistence
4. Quality
5. Passion
6. Sustainability

Customer focus

1. Accountability (ownership)
2. Community involvement
3. Customer commitment
4. Honesty
5. Integrity
6. Making a difference
7. Trust
8. Simplicity

Working together

1. Authenticity
2. Collaboration
3. Diversity
4. Fun
5. Inclusion
6. Humility
7. Teamwork
8. Transparency
9. Vulnerability

Continuous Improvement

1. Continuous improvement
2. Curiosity
3. Employee development
4. Innovation
5. Self-improvement

Why UX is DIFFICULT

 I'll keep this short.

Usability design (UX) is converting human communications into a computer user interface.

What are programmers trained to do?  Write programs.

What are programmers NOT typically good at?  Human communications.

Quod erat demonstrandum.

Notes from the book "Crucial Conversations"

Executive Summary

p80 Lord, help me forgive those who sin differently than I.

Fix the dogmatic conviction that others are the source of all that ails you.

The key to communication is to care about others' goals and have trustworthy motives.  In short, show leadership by treating others with human dignity and treating their needs as important.

• Establish and track mutual purpose
• Establish and track mutual respect
• Don't play games

Details

We should be bold in talking out difficult topics with people -- conflict is not a bad thing, if it's handled well.

Debate could mean the other person thinks you are trying to "win", so fights back.

When you talk with someone, they might not feel safe.  This is where silence and sarcasm and cheap shots come from.  They're being defensive.

You might be tempted to sugarcoat the message, water it down, dress it up.  This is actually avoidance even though you might think it is helping.

Skills

What Do I Really Want? (ch5) One skill to develop is not getting stuck on what is said to you.  "Step out" of the "content" of the conversation.  Your goal is to communicate to solve a problem (for example). 

Apologize Appropriately. (ch5) When you've hurt others, start here.  Express sorrow for your role in causing pain or difficulty.

Contrast. (ch5) This provides context, not apology. It's prevention or first aid. When people misinterpret your statement, address their concern and then confirm your respect or clarify your real purpose. "The last thing I wanted to do was communicate that I don't value the work you put in.  I think your work has been nothing short of spectacular."

Another way to contrast: "Let me put this in perspective.  I don't want X.  I do want Y."

Create a Mutual Purpose. (ch5) Be willing to abandon your strategy, because the goal is what's important. And when the goals don't match, be willing to abandon them for a more meaningful or rewarding goal for all. Once the goal is agreed on, then you can brainstorm strategies together.

Emotions (ch6) An essential tactic to controlling your emotions is to think them out.  This is a skill that gets easier with practice. What stories do you tell yourself which causes your feelings?

Slow Down (ch6) Learn to retrace your path through (1) noticing your behavior as fight or flight; (2) get in touch with your feelings that cause it... This Is Difficult!; (3) analyze what story is causing this emotion; (4) get back to the facts of the situation that seem to support that story.

How to Make Decisions. (ch9) Command, consult, vote, or consensus.  

1. Use command with low-stakes issues, OR where you completely trust the delegate.
2. Consult is efficient for gaining ideas and support without bogging down decision-making.
3. Vote when you need to efficiently select one of several good options.
4. Use consensus with high-stakes, complex issues where everyone must be on board.

How to Make Action Items (ch9)

1. Who?
2. does What?
3. by When?
4. and How will you follow up?

Document Your Work.  If you've gone to the effort to complete a "Crucial Conversation", don't fritter away all the meaning you created by trusting your memory.  Write down the details of your conclusions, decisions, and assignments.  Record who does what by when. Revisit your notes at key times (usually the next meeting) and review assignments.

Emotions (ch6)

After we observe someone's behavior, and just before our emotional response, we tell ourselves a story.  We add meaning to the observed behavior.  We interpret the behavior and guess at its motives.

These interpretations are theories.  And the interpreter runs at physical-reaction speeds, because it's set to evaluate danger.

We then judge that motive as good or bad.

Then our emotions respond, and then we act.

Until we learn to tell ourselves different stories, we cannot break our emotional loops.

Emotional Literacy

Talk openly with others about how you feel.  This helps build your vocabulary.

Cheated

Embarrassed

Humiliated

Surprised

Violated

...and a hundred more.

Three Clever Stories to Watch For

Look for these when you're talking to yourself.

Victim Stories "It's not My Fault"

There is no such thing as an innocent victim.

Villain Stories "It's All Your Fault"

This exaggerates our own innocence, by the way.

Helpless Stories "There's Nothing else I can Do"

Interpreting Behaviors

Anger / Highly emotionally charged = feeling disrespected.

When people feel unsafe, the personal styles are fight or flight:

• flight - avoidance, silence, not contributing, witholding
• fight - scoring points by winning an argument

Other books to read: 

Strength Finder (know yourself)

Learn to Lead

Notes from the book "Leadership and Self-Deception"

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

p31,1p.  "People skills" are only effective if you're putting their needs [at least -rje] equal to yours.

i.e., seeing them as people with legitimate needs.

["don't be a jerk" -rje]

p148 This is how you get out of "the Box".

DETAILS

p32,4p People respond to how we feel about them.  (p44,9p) ...not what we do so much as how we're being.

p33,7-9p Are their needs important?

p37,1p We always look at others in one of two fundamental ways: as people, or as objects/nuisances.

ACTION ITEM: p43 How many names in your division do you know?  Why should you care?

p68 "Self-betrayal" is: 1. when you have a sense of doing something for others but don't do it, 2. then vilify the other, 3. or feel like a victim.  Both reactions are to push your guilt onto someone else by justifying our sin.  [In the long run this makes things worse and complicated. -rje]

p77,6p. How the Process Works

1. betrayal of conscience ["sin" -rje]
2. conscience accuses
3. divert blame; justify
4. get angry at others b/c they're to blame
5. people now don't seem to deserve help

The Box' Nature

pp98-100 "In the box" behavior encourages "in the box" from others.  This state is dysfunctional.  It undermines relationships.  It makes you destructive.

"The box" wants to be fed by others' poor behavior.  Its need is to have others behave badly too.  It seeks to be justified by others' bad behavior.

ACTION ITEM p103,7p I'm not doing anyone a favor by letting them run over me.

OTOH if I'm in the box, then I get just what I need, if someone runs over me. I get justification. And we're both miserable.

IT Trend for 2021: Increased Internet Regulation

Tech (in particular, internet-based commerce) will be more regulated by governments -- with China on a more aggressive schedule than the U.S.

Since China has a highly-centralized, one party system, they have no internal obstacles towards following their whim. So, companies like Ant and Alibaba face direct intervention by China.

The U.S., on the other hand, can't so easily decide to beat up on tech companies; the government is more distributed, and split into at least two power bases (and more if you divide things up on axes based on social and economic positions).  

In general, regulation will be along the anti-monopoly lines, as these behemoth tech companies start to look just a little evil as no competitors arise.

Good Programming and Good Programming Languages

 The Executive Summary

"Good" code has two features:

(1) Disciplined developers. The most important factor.  Their most important rule is The Boy Scout Principle: Leave it better than you found it.

(2) A disciplined language.  There are lower limits: for example, BASIC doesn't cut it.

The High Level View

Think: How Would You Build a City?  By separation of concerns; i.e., Abstraction and Modularity.

Good code is broken into subsystems (modules, classes, whatever) which are "loosely coupled".

Subsystems DO ONLY ONE THING AND DO IT WELL.  Some call this the "Single Responsibility Rule".

Subsystems (once tested and finished) should NOT BE MODIFIED: instead, write a new subsystem ("extension") that uses the subsystem (via abstraction!) and changes or extends its functionality.  Some call this the "Open/Closed Rule".

Dependencies (ideally) ought to be managed through abstractions; i.e. "code to interfaces".

Messy Details

Functions and classes should be small (i.e. "do only one thing and do it well").  When a thing loses cohesion, split it up.  Yes, this will increase the overall code length -- but usability, readability, and maintainability all go up.

A symptom of functions doing multiple things is the passing of flags as parameters.  Passing a boolean into a function is generally horrible.

DRY ("Don't Repeat Yourself").

The Principle of Least Astonishment applies to functions, classes, etc.

We all know that data should be hidden, right?  (Law of Demeter).

Use Unchecked Exceptions and please avoid Checked Exceptions as much as possible.

Write tests for 3P code you use (no, really!  Can you think of two reasons why?)

Test-Driven Development saves you from the temptation of massive "improvements" which ruins the code... by forcing Incremental Changes.

Building or Testing should be runnable with just one command.

Polymorphism is better than if or switch.